Elder-abuse prosecutor leaves Chatham County district attorney for better pay

Assistant Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Jones, who brought renewed passion to the office’s elder-abuse prosecution, left Friday to return to private practice and the lure of better pay.

“I love the work in District Attorney Meg Heap’s office,” Jones said. “It’s a great place to work. It just doesn’t pay enough.”

The private sector can always offer better compensation to lure good attorneys away, she said.

Jones, 37, will open a satellite site for Atlanta-based Cruser & Mitchell as managing partner with an office on East York Street, which is expected to grow to include three or four attorneys.

Jones has headed Heap’s elder abuse effort since it was resurrected in January 2013. She joined the office in 2010, initially as a State Court prosecutor and lead domestic violence prosecutor before moving to Superior Court in 2012.

She has been a passionate advocate for seniors who have been victimized and has headed several major prosecutions that resulted in convictions.

While her new law firm handles insurance defense work and business, she will have the flexibility to continue to pursue her passion with elder-abuse cases, but from the civil perspective, Jones said.

As a prosecutor, Jones said, she saw cases where elder folk were the victims of conduct that while not necessarily criminal would amount to gross negligence in a civil venue and which she can now address.

Those cases may involve predatory solicitors who prey on senior citizens.

“I think there’s a great market here and in Hilton Head,” she said, noting the large number of seniors in what she characterized as a retirement community.

She plans to take the South Carolina bar examination in February to allow her to practice in that state. She is now allowed to practice in Georgia and Texas.

Her new role will allow her to expand her skills to include managing a business and running a law firm.

“Shalena is a wonderful attorney with an amazing ability to champion the elderly,” Heap said. “Not only is she talented in the courtroom, she has been committed to educating the public on the warning signs of elder abuse.

“I will truly miss her passion and commitment.”

For Heap, the problem of compensation remains an issue.

“Many of our attorneys went without raises for five years. Most of the (assistants) have young families and large school loans,” said Heap. “It’s hard to compete when the private sector offers more money.”

Jones will be the fourth assistant to leave Heap’s staff during her 20 months in office because of compensation issues.

Despite the lure of better money, Jones praised Heap and her attempts to pay her assistants.

“I think Meg has gone to the ends of the Earth to make sure her prosecutors get the pay they deserve,” she said. “It’s sad that prosecutors who work so hard to keep our streets safe, we’re kind of slow to compensate those people. It lags behind.”

DA’s assistant to focus on elder abuse

Assistant District Attorney Maggie Hinchey DeLeon will take over the elder abuse prosecution effort, District Attorney Meg Heap said.

DeLeon, 26, joined the prosecutor’s office in October 2012 and is currently assigned to handle domestic violence prosecutions in Chatham County Superior Court’s Other Crimes Division.

Her new role in elder abuse will allow her to handle elder abuse in all of the Superior Court judges’ courts and retain her domestic violence caseload.

She will split all non-sexual felonies against children cases, formerly DeLeon’s, with new assistant prosecutor Ana Allen, who will start next month. They will split all felony domestic violence cases in the Other Felony Division.

“It’s kind of everywhere,” she said of the elder abuse caseload. “These are baby boomers who are being exploited by the very people they worked hard for to give a better life.”

Heap has made aggressive prosecutions of elder abuse cases a key effort in her office and said, “Elder abuse prosecution is very complicated because it can have so many facets: financial malfeasance, physical and mental abuse, frail victims with serious health issues, complicated evidence often spanning years.

“Maggie uniquely embodies many of the characteristics necessary for a good elder abuse prosecutor, including the compassion to work with some of our worst crime victims and a doggedness in the pursuit of justice for those victims.”